Charleston gunman will not use mental health to avoid death penalty

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Convicted murderer Dylann Roof will not ask jurors to take his mental health into consideration next month during the death penalty phase of his trial for killing nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina.

In a handwritten note filed in a South Carolina federal court on Friday, Roof, an avowed white supremacist, wrote, "I will not be calling mental health experts or presenting mental health evidence."

Roof was found guilty on Thursday of 33 charges of federal hate crimes after a six-day trial featuring harrowing testimony about the night of June 17, 2015, when he attended Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church before opening fire on the parishioners.

16PHOTOS

Charleston SC shooting suspect. Dylann Roof

See Gallery

Charleston SC shooting suspect. Dylann Roof

Photos found on a website that allegedly belongs to church shooting suspect Dylann Roof.

Photos found on a website that allegedly belongs to church shooting suspect Dylann Roof.

Photos found on a website that allegedly belongs to church shooting suspect Dylann Roof.

Photos found on a website that allegedly belongs to church shooting suspect Dylann Roof.

Photos found on a website that allegedly belongs to church shooting suspect Dylann Roof.

Photos found on a website that allegedly belongs to church shooting suspect Dylann Roof.

Photos found on a website that allegedly belongs to church shooting suspect Dylann Roof.

Photos found on a website that allegedly belongs to church shooting suspect Dylann Roof.

Photos found on a website that allegedly belongs to church shooting suspect Dylann Roof.

Photos found on a website that allegedly belongs to church shooting suspect Dylann Roof.

Photos found on a website that allegedly belongs to church shooting suspect Dylann Roof.

This image has been provided by the Charleston Police Department, Thursday, June 18, 2015. A man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston, S.C., Wednesday night, June 17, 2015, killing nine people, including the pastor in an assault that authorities are calling a hate crime. The shooter remained at large Thursday. (Photo via Charleston Police Department)

The Emanuel AME Church is viewed behind a police vehicle on June 18, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina, after a mass shooting at the Church on the evening of June 17, 2015. US police on Thursday arrested a 21-year-old white gunman suspected of killing nine people at a prayer meeting in one of the nation's oldest black churches in Charleston, an attack being probed as a hate crime. The shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in the southeastern US city was one of the worst attacks on a place of worship in the country in recent years, and comes at a time of lingering racial tensions. AFP PHOTO/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

A police officer holds up a tape in front of the Emanuel AME Church June 18, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina, after a mass shooting at the church on the evening of June 17, 2015. US police on Thursday arrested a 21-year-old white gunman suspected of killing nine people at a prayer meeting in one of the nation's oldest black churches in Charleston, an attack being probed as a hate crime. The shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in the southeastern US city was one of the worst attacks on a place of worship in the country in recent years, and comes at a time of lingering racial tensions. AFP PHOTO/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

A view ofthe Emanuel AME Church is seen June 18, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina, after a mass shooting at the church on the evening of June 17, 2015. US police on Thursday arrested a 21-year-old white gunman suspected of killing nine people at a prayer meeting in one of the nation's oldest black churches in Charleston, an attack being probed as a hate crime. The shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in the southeastern US city was one of the worst attacks on a place of worship in the country in recent years, and comes at a time of lingering racial tensions. AFP PHOTO/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Up Next

See Gallery

Discover More Like This

HIDE CAPTION

SHOW CAPTION

of

SEE ALL

BACK TO SLIDE

He spent months scouting potential sites for the attack, which he confessed to carrying out, and wrote a journal and online manifesto filled with hatred toward Jewish and black people.

The jury is scheduled to begin hearing evidence on Jan. 3 in the second phase of the trial, which will determine whether Roof faces execution.

Roof is acting as his own lawyer in that proceeding.

He still faces a trial next year on state charges in connection with the church killings. South Carolina prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty as well. (Reporting by Joseph Ax in New York; Editing by Paul Simao)